Name: Butternut squash and poppadom curry
Ingredients: 1 butternut squash (1kg), halved, seeds removed and discarded, then cut into 4cm skin-on chunks; 75ml olive oil; fine sea salt and black pepper; 1 tsp black mustard seeds; 1 red onion (150g), peeled and finely chopped; 20g ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed; 10 fresh curry leaves; 400g tin coconut milk; ¼ tsp ground turmeric; 100g baby spinach; 3 cooked poppadoms, plain or spiced, each broken into about 8 pieces; 3 plum tomatoes; ¼ tsp mild chilli powder; 1 tbsp lime juice

Serves 4

Prep 15 min

Cook 40 min

I’ve always enjoyed eating poppadoms alongside curries, but it wasn’t until I ate at a Rajasthani restaurant recently that I was inspired to use them in the actual dish itself. This curry also takes some inspiration from Kerala, and the result is neither distinctly Keralan nor Rajasthani, but rather a nod to both. Serve with rice.

Ingredients

1	butternut squash (1kg), halved, seeds removed and discarded, then cut into 4cm skin-on chunks
75ml	olive oil
	fine sea salt and black pepper
1 tsp	black mustard seeds
1	red onion (150g), peeled and finely chopped
20g	ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
2	garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
10	fresh curry leaves
400g	tin coconut milk
¼ tsp	ground turmeric
100g	baby spinach
3	cooked poppadoms, plain or spiced, each broken into about 8 pieces
3	plum tomatoes
¼ tsp	mild chilli powder
1 tbsp	lime juice

Method

Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. Mix the squash with two tablespoons of oil and a half-teaspoon of salt, then spread them out on an oven tray lined with greaseproof paper and roast for 25 minutes, until cooked through and lightly charred.
Put two tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high heat, add the mustard seeds and a good grind of pepper, and cook for about three minutes, until the seeds start to pop.
Stir in the onion, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and a teaspoon of salt, and fry, stirring often, for five minutes, until the onions are soft and starting to take on some colour.
Add the coconut milk, turmeric and 400ml water (use the empty tin of coconut milk to measure that out), then bring to a simmer. Stir in the roast squash, spinach and poppadoms, and simmer for another five minutes, until the spinach has wilted and the poppadoms have softened.
Roughly grate the tomatoes into a fine sieve set over a bowl, then discard the skins. Add the tomato water to the curry, keeping the pulp for later.
Put the remaining tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Once hot, add the chilli powder, cook, stirring, for 30 seconds, then add the tomato pulp and cook for three minutes, until the mix is bright red and slightly thickened.
Stir the tomato mixture and the lime juice into the squash curry, transfer the curry to individual bowls and serve.